New York, NY House Fire, Jan 1911

When the flames burst from a closet on the third floor of 45 West Forty-ninth Street, the home of Samuel Dwight Brewster, a linen manufacturer, who was at the theatre with his wife, their thirteen year old son Sidney stepped to the telephone and sent an alarm direct to Fire Headquarters.

Warren, 11years old, was in bed. He was carried out of a smoke-filled room by his governess, who had wrapped him in a blanket. The fire gained headway before the arrival of the firemen. The loss was estimated at $3,000.

Harry B. Coombs, a broker, with offices at 25 Broad Street, lives next door to the Brewster family. His house is 47 West Forty-ninth Street. He was reading in his library on the second floor, when he heard through the dividing wall Sidney Brewster telephone to Fire Headquarters.

Opening a rear window he saw a red glare in the Brewster home. He called to his wife to send another alarm to Fire Headquarters to make sure, and then he hastened to the aid of the children in the smoke-filled Brewster home.

A maid opened the door for him and he reached the third floor just as the governess was staggering out of a bedroom with young Warren in her arms. He took the boy from her and carried him to his own home. Sidney and the maid were also taken to shelter there.

The flames started in the closet of the room occupied by the two brothers. The cause was not learned.

Samuel D. Brewster is a member of the firm of Deering, Milliken Co. 79 Leonard Street. A message was sent to him at the theater after the fire had been extinguished.

The flames extended from the third to the fourth floor and the firemen had to chop a hole through the roof before they could subdue them.